U of R senate votes to cut programs due to low enrolment

Barb Pollock, one of the University of Regina Senate members who voted to cut some of the school's programs due to low enrollment. (CBC )

The University of Regina has decided to no longer offer a number of programs to new students because of low enrolment numbers.

In a university senate meeting on Saturday, members voted to cut or suspend some of the institution's degree offerings.

Proposals for the cuts were made by the different faculties that oversee the programs.

One of the programs cut was the Bachelor of Francophone studies, which hasn't graduated any students in the past 12 years and currently has one student enrolled in classes.

Students still enrolled in the programs that are being ended will be able to finish their degrees.

Here's a list of the programs the senate has decided to cut:

Bachelor of Arts combined Honours Major in Economics and Geography — deleted

Latin American Studies concentrations in International Studies — deleted

Advanced Certificates in Justice Studies and Police Studies — deleted

Bachelor of Francophone Studies — deleted

Admission to Bachelor of Arts Major and Minor in Arts and Culture — suspended

Master of Arts in Mathematics and Statistics — archived

Admission to the Adapted Movement Science Major — discontinued

Bachelor of Science combined Major in Biochemistry and Chemistry — closed

Bachelor of Science in Applied/Industrial Physics with emphasis in Computation and Physical Modeling — closed

Members of the senate said they would rather put the resources into programs that will attract more students, which is why they also voted to add four new programs.

Here's a list of the programs the senate has decided to add:

Two new concentrations in the Bachelor of Kinesiology Human Kinetics Major —High Performance, and Adaptation and Rehabilitation

Minor in Creative Technologies

Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Science Honours Major in Psychology

Certificate in Indigenous Access Transition Education

Budget Concerns

The changes come as the school is facing concerns about its budget for the upcoming year.

Barb Pollock, the vice president of external relations at the university and a member of the senate, said the school is concerned about the provincial budget in March.

"We have a very serious and tough budget situation," said Pollock. "We have already been told by the government of Saskatchewan that things are tight."

"We have asked all the deans and all the heads of departments to take a look at cutting three per cent from their budgets and we will be very fortunate if that's all we need to do," she added.

Pollock said this will be the second year in a row the university will have to make cuts.

"Last year the average cut was three to four per cent right across the board, and we had a couple of layoffs and we had more than a couple of positions go, through attrition," she said. "So what we're hoping for is to take these cuts and make the least amount of harm."

Roughly 50 per cent of the school's revenue comes from the provincial government, 30 per cent from tuition fees and 20 per cent from other sources.